Rescue device

ABSTRACT

The rescue device comprises a first sheet member and two second sheet members that are disposed on each side of the first sheet member. The second sheet members are angled relative to the first sheet member to define an angle alpha. The rescue device has a plurality of carrying means enabling the device to be carried. The first and second sheet members each has a stable first sheet and a resilient and thermally insulating second sheet that has closed pores and a third sheet that is disposed adjacent ot the second sheet.

The present invention relates to a rescue device intended for use intraffic accidents and also in accidents at sea that involve manoverboard situations.

It is a common occurrence in traffic accidents that the vehiclesinvolved, for instance cars, are so demolished as to render itimpossible to remove injured persons from the vehicles in the normalway. In these situations, the rescue personnel cut-away the vehicle in amanner suitable with respect to the situation on hand, whereafter theinjured persons are removed from the vehicle and often placed on astretcher, depending on the nature of their injuries. Such movement ofthe injured person is a critical step in this procedure, since theperson concerned may be unconscious and the rescue personnel may not beaware of the injuries sustained by the person. His/her injuries may beworsened in the worst of cases.

In the case of accidents at sea that involve man overboard situations,it is often difficult to rescue a person in the water from a boat. Theproblem is one of lifting the person from the water and place him/her inthe rescue boat. The person in the water is often heavy to lift, due tothe sodden state of the person's clothing, while lifting is made evenmore difficult when the person concerned is unconscious. In the case ofman overboard situations, it is very important to take-up the personconcerned as quickly as possible, since the human body cools down veryrapidly when submerged in water, particularly when the water has a lowtemperature.

A further problem that occurs in the aforesaid situations is that therescue devices used will preferably be made of a material that will notabsorb fluid, such as water and blood, for instance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to solve the aforesaid problems.This object is achieved with a rescue device according to claim 1. Therescue device comprises an elongated sheet-like structure on which aninjured person is placed, a plurality of tubular members that aredisposed in the longitudinal direction of the sheet-like member andfunction to reinforce the device, and a plurality of carrier elements bymeans of which the device can be carried. The sheet-like structure ofthe rescue device includes a first stable sheet which braces thestructure, a resilient second layer having closed pores located adjacentthe first sheet, and a third, smooth sheet which is disposed adjacentthe second sheet centrally opposite the first sheet. The third sheet isthe sheet on which the injured person is placed and because even theresilient sheet is made of a material having closed pores, thesheet-like member will not absorb fluid. The inventive rescue devicealso includes securing or fastening means on the first sheet whichenable the device to be secured to the railings of a boat, buoyancymeans disposed on the first sheet-like sheet, gas supply means connectedto the buoyancy means, and an activator connected to the gas supplymeans and functioning to fill the buoyancy means with gas from the gassupply means so that the rescue device will be made buoyant.

Because the inventive rescue device is constructed in the aforedescribedmanner, it is suitable for use in traffic accidents and also inaccidents at sea which involve man overboard situations. Furthermore,the inventive rescue device will not absorb fluid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inventive rescue device;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the rescue device shown in FIG. 1,said view being taken on the line A--A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet-like structure used in theinventive rescue device;

FIG. 4 is a first schematic illustration of the manner in which theinventive rescue device can be used in man overboard situations; and

FIG. 5 is a second schematic illustration of the manner in which theinventive rescue device can be used in man overboard situations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inventive rescue device 10, and FIG.2 is a cross-sectional view of the rescue device 10 taken on the lineA--A in FIG. 1. The rescue device 10 includes an elongated sheetstructure 12, 12' which preferably comprises a first sheet member 12 andtwo second sheet members 12' disposed on a respective side of the firstsheet member 12. As will be evident from FIG. 2, the second sheetmembers 12' are angled so as to define an angle α with the first sheetmember 12. The angle α will preferably be about 110°. The angle α isproduced by bending the sheet member 12, 12' along two parallellongitudinally extending lines 13, as evident from FIG. 2. The rescuedevice 10 also includes tubular members 14 that are disposed around thesheet member 12, 12' and that have the double purpose of stabilizing therescue device and of forming an "intermediary" between the carrier andthe sheet member 12, 12'. Instead of being tubular, the member 14 may bea strip or a rod. The tubular members 14 are intended to brace orreinforce the rescue device 10. As evident from FIG. 1, the rescuedevice 10 also includes a plurality of carrying means 16 which aredisposed on the second sheet members 12' and by means of which thedevice 10 can be carried. In the illustrated embodiment, the carryingmeans 16 have the form of apertures 16 in the second sheet members 12'and are disposed at the outer edges of the tubular members 14, so thatsaid members can also be used in carrying the rescue device 10. The FIG.1 embodiment includes four apertures 16 on each long side of the rescuedevice 10, although it will be understood that these apertures maypreferably be two or more in number. The rescue device 10 willpreferably have a length of 140 cm. As evident from FIG. 2, the firstsheet member 12 has a width of preferably about 17 cm, whereas thesecond sheet members 12' preferably have a width of about 13 cm. Thisgives the rescue device 10 a total width of about 40 cm between itslongitudinally extending outer edges.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet structure 12, 12' used inthe inventive rescue device 10. The sheet structure 12, 12' includes afirst stable sheet 20 which is intended to brace or reinforce the sheetstructure 12, 12', and therewith the rescue device 10. The sheetstructure further includes a resilient and heat-insulating second sheet22 having closed pores and disposed on the first sheet member 20, and athird, smooth sheet member 24 which delimits the second sheet member 22and lies opposite the first sheet member 20. The third sheet member 24is the sheet member on which the injured person is placed. The firstsheet member 20 will preferably be rigid and strong, and mayconveniently be comprised of aluminium sheets having a thickness of 2mm. This will further add to the stability of the rescue device 10. Thesecond sheet member 22, i.e. the intermediate sheet member, may becomprised of interbound polyethylene foam having dense cells. The secondsheet member 22 is also slit along the two longitudinally extendinglines 13, so as to facilitate bending of the sheet structure 12, 12'along said lines 13. The second sheet member will have a thickness ofabout 3-9 mm and a density of about 0.05 kg/m³. The third sheet member24 will preferably be sufficiently rigid to prevent it being deformed toany appreciable extent by punctiform loads, although sufficiently softto prevent the rescued person from suffering further injury due toinsignificant impact forces. The surface of the third sheet member 24will preferably also be such as to enable the injured person to bereadily drawn or pulled along said surface. The third sheet member 24may comprise a non-porous polyethylene sheet having a density of about0.9-1.0 kg/m³ and a thickness of about 0.6-1.5 mm. The third sheetmember 24 lies proximal to the concave part of the rescue device 10.

A sheet structure 12, 12' of the aforedescribed construction provides arescue device 10 that will counteract displacement of skeletal parts ofthe rescued person as the person is drawn or pulled along the rescuedevice 10. Because the rescue device 10 will yield to a certain extent,the rescued person will not suffer contusions when handled roughly. Therescue device 10 is also thermally insulating, thereby preventing thebody of the rescued person being cooled down when the rescue device 10is placed on the ground with the rescued person lying on said device.Neither will the rescue device 10 absorb fluids, such as body fluids andcleaning liquids.

The aforedescribed rescue device 10 can be used in conjunction withtraffic accidents. A hypothetical traffic accident is described below.

Assume that a traffic accident has occurred between two automotivevehicles, for instance two cars, with only one person in each vehicle,and that the cars have been wrecked to such an extent as to make itimpossible for the rescue personnel to open the doors of said cars. Therescue personnel begin by cutting away the roof of the cars with the aidof an appropriate tool. The rescue device 10 is then passed through thehole in the roof such as to position the device between the injuredperson and the car seat, with the first sheet member 20 made, forinstance, of aluminium placed against the seat and the third sheetmember 24, made for instance of a relatively rigid plastic material,placed against the injured person. The first sheet member 12 therewithfunctions as a support in the back and front sheet members, and thesecond sheet members 12' form a "hollow" that constrains lateralmovement of the body. The next step is to draw the injured person alongthe rescue device 10, so that the person concerned will "lie" on saiddevice 10, or rather "incline" on said device 10, since the device 10 isprobably substantially parallel with the backrest of the seat. Therescue device 10 is then tilted along an imaginary axis so as to beessentially horizontal, with the injured person lying on said device,whereafter the rescue device 10 is used in the manner of a stretcher.The injured person is preferably secured to the rescue device 10 in thisposition by means of securing devices (not shown). These securingdevices may have the form of straps, for instance. The next step is toremove the rescue device 10 and the person secured thereto from the carfor transportation to an ambulance for instance, this normally beingeffected by carrying the device 10 by the carrying means 16.

The inventive rescue device 10 may also be used in rescue operations atsea in man overboard situations. This is described below with referenceto an hypothetical boat accident.

Assume that a boat accident occurs in which the driver of the boat isalone and falls overboard and is knocked unconscious in the event. Alsoassume that a rescue boat equipped with inventive rescue devices 10 iscalled to the place of the accident for the purpose of rescuing theinjured person, who lies unconscious in the water. So that the use ofthe rescue device 10 in this situation will be understood more readily,reference is made to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 shows the injured person 42floating unconscious in the water 40. The rescue boat 44 with rescuepersonnel on board has reached the injured person 42 and lowered arescue device 10 into the water. As evident from FIG. 4 for instance,the rescue device 10 includes an attachment means 46 for attaching thedevice 10 to the railing of the rescue boat 44. The attachment means 46may have the form of a hook attached to one short end of the first sheetmember 12 (c.f. FIGS. 1 and 2) by means of a hinge device 48 that willenable the first sheet member 12 to be swung along the axis line of thehinge device 48 in relation to the attachment means 46. The rescuedevice 10 also includes at the other end of the first sheet member 12 abuoyancy means 50, a gas source 52 that contains gas and is connected tothe buoyancy means 50, and an activating device (not shown) connected tothe gas source 52. The rescue boat 44 is manoeuvred so that the injuredperson 42 floats above the rescue device 10 with said device submergedin the water 40 beneath the injured person 42. The rescue personnel inthe boat 44 then activates the activating device which, in turn,actuates the gas source 52 so as to fill the buoyancy means 50 with gasand therewith render the same buoyant. FIG. 5 shows the situation inwhich the buoyancy means 50 is inflated to a maximum extent, wherewiththe rescue device 10 will, in principle, float horizontally with theinjured person 42 lying on said device 10. The injured person 42 issuitably secured on the rescue device 10 in this position by means ofsecuring devices (not shown) of the same kind as the aforementioned. Thebuoyancy means 50 may be a balloon made of impact-durable material andhaving a size which will keep the rescue device 10 and a person placedthereon afloat when the balloon is inflated and when the rescue device10 is disposed in the manner shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The gas source 52may be a cylinder filled with carbon dioxide gas, for instance. Theactivating means may be an electrical or mechanical means.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the rescue device 10includes buoyancy means 16' (c.f. FIG. 1) that have a shape whichenables them to fit into the aperture 16 provided in the rescue device10. The buoyancy means 16' of this embodiment have the form of inserts16' mounted in and secured to respective apertures 16 when the rescuedevice 10 needs to be used in conjunction with an accident at sea. Thus,an appropriate number of buoyancy means 16' may be selectively mountedon the rescue device 10, the number of buoyancy means used depending onthe weight of the person to be rescued, for instance. When the inserts16' are not mounted on the rescue device 10, the buoyancy means 16' willprobably not be in an active state, i.e. will not be inflated. On theother hand, when the inserts 16' are mounted on the rescue device 10 andsecured thereto, the buoyancy means 16' will be brought to an activestate, i.e. inflated to a maximum. The insert 16' can be removed fromthe aperture 16 subsequent to having used the rescue device 10 to rescuea person who has fallen overboard, for instance.

The inventive rescue device has been described in the aforegoing withreference to preferred embodiments thereof. It will be understood thatthese embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention and thatvariations and modifications can be made within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rescue device for use in traffic accidents orin accidents at sea, comprising:an elongated sheet structure on which aninjured person is placed, a number of tubular members disposed aroundthe sheet structure and functioning to reinforce or brace the rescuedevice, and a number of carrying means disposed on the sheet structureto enable the rescue device to be carried the sheet structure comprisesa first stable sheet intended to brace the sheet structure, a thermallyinsulating second sheet having closed pores and disposed adjacent thefirst sheet and a substantially smooth third sheet disposed adjacent tothe second sheet and opposite the first sheet, wherein the third sheetis the sheet on which the injured person is placed, the sheet structurebeing a unit comprising a first sheet member and two second sheetmembers having been produced by bending the sheet structure along twolongitudinally extending lines and each of which being disposed on arespective side of and along the longitudinally extending sides of thefirst sheet member, the second sheet members defining an angle (α) withthe first sheet member, and the second sheet being slit alone the twolongitudinally extending lines.
 2. A rescue device according to claim 1wherein the carrying means has apertures defined therein disposedadjacent to the tubular members in the two second sheet members.
 3. Arescue device according to claim 2 wherein the device also includes anattachment means mounted at one short end of the first sheet member andfunctioning to attach the device to the railing of a boat, a buoyancydevice mounted at the other end of the first sheet member, agas-containing gas source connected to the buoyancy device, and anactuator connected to the gas source, wherein activation of the actuatorcauses gas to be delivered from the gas source to the buoyancy device soas to achieve buoyancy.
 4. A rescue device according to claim 2 whereinthe device (10) also comprises insert devices that are intended to bemounted in and fastened to the apertures, wherein the insert devicesinclude buoyancy means which are inflated in an activated state toachieve buoyancy.
 5. A rescue device according to claim 1, characterizedin that the first sheet is an aluminium sheet, the second sheet is afoamed plastic sheet; and in that the third sheet is made of arelatively rigid plastic material.
 6. A rescue device according to claim1 wherein the angle (α) is about 110°.
 7. A rescue device according toclaim 3 wherein the device also includes hinge means between the firstsheet member and the attachment means for enabling the first sheetmember to be pivoted in relation to the attachment means.
 8. A rescuedevice according to claim 3 wherein the attachment means is a hook, inthat the buoyancy device is a balloon and in that the gas source is acarbon dioxide cylinder.